What Love Island can learn from Too Hot to Handle

The show's first dumping then took place and it shocked us all, as Shannon Singh was sent on her way.

But despite these twists and a few more surprises, I couldn't help but compare the new series of Love Island to Netflix's Too Hot to Handle, which returned for a second series on 23rd June.

Love Island usually takes a bit of time to warm up, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I was already invested in THTH after just the first four episodes. And with Love Island approaching its third week, the drama is still lukewarm.

One look at Twitter, and the conversation is pretty much the same, with many agreeing the Netflix show, which sees contestants avoiding physical contact in a bid to win $100,000, is proving more addictive.

So, what is it about Too Hot to Handle that we just can't seem to get enough of? And what can Love Island learn from the show? I have a few ideas...

Casting

Year in, year out, viewers complain about the lack of diversity on Love Island. Ahead of this series, an ITV boss spoke to RadioTimes.com about a diverse 2021 line-up but said including gay contestants presented “a logistical difficulty.”

We have seen some sexual diversity in the past, with former contestants Sophie Gradon and Katie Salmon, who became the show's first same-sex couple.

And there's more progress this year - Sharon Gaffka revealed she's bisexual earlier in the series and Love Island included its first ever disabled contestant with PE Teacher Hugo Hammond.

However, where Love Island appears to be taking baby steps, Too Hot to Handle is galloping.

On THTH we've had openly bisexual contestants since the beginning, for instance in series one where Francesca Farago and Haley shared a kiss.

And both years, the show has included an international cast. The Too Hot to Handle season two cast included contestants from all around the world including Marvin from France, Italian Christina and Cam, Tabitha and Emily from the UK, as well as many more from various states in the USA.

I know we have different iterations of Love Island, including the Australian and US series, but just because it's the UK version of the dating show, does that mean we can't have an international cast?

I spoke to Too Hot to Handle's Tabitha, who told me meeting contestants from different parts of the world was one of the things that made being on the Netflix series so special.

Asked what sets THTH aside from other reality TV shows, the 21-year-old said: "I think the fact that it's completely global - we've got people from all over the world - we have a French person, and an Italian person and British people. They've found people from every stretch of the world and everyone has such a different life. You have Nathan who is a stripper from Texas, Melinda, a girl from New York, and then you have the English contestants."

Maybe Love Island could spruce things up a little by looking a further afield for contestants.

Dating preferences

When it comes to Love Island you can't help but feel like the majority of contestants all go for the same, typical type.

On launch night, Jake Cornish made it very clear his type was blonde with blue eyes and "little, white toes".

Three guys stepped forward for Faye, while some of the other ladies weren't chosen at all.

Of course, everyone has their own type and you can't force people to like each other, but it's not very interesting watching a dating show with multiple contestants where everyone just wants the same person - isn't that what we have The Bachelor for?

For some reason though, the THTH cast just seem to be more open when it comes to dating.

The contestants aren't as restricted, and don't solely base their attraction to someone on something as trivial as hair colour, which anyone can buy in a box...

Switch it up

With seven series under its belt, Love Island has obviously been going a lot longer than Too Hot to Handle, so we're used to the format and can often predict what's going to happen.

We were all anticipating a bombshell moment after the first coupling and many fans already suspect that Shannon could return to Love Island as part of a major plot line.

The show isn't to blame for this. Naturally loyal fans will get used to how things are, but could we be getting bored of Love Island's predictable format?

While Love Island stuck to the status quo this year, Too Hot to Handle returned with lots of new twists. There was a new villa in Turks & Caicos, the prize money wasn't split among the contestants like in series one, and there was only one Too Hot to Handle winner this year, voted for by the other contestants.

I know it's only early days for Love Island and we have six more weeks to go until the Love Island 2021 final, but could Too Hot to Handle's no holds barred approach be ruining it for the ITV2 dating show? Do we just feel like we know exactly what's coming?

I'm not saying Love Island should get rid of our favourite twists, because I am definitely ready for those contestants to head to Casa Amor and all the drama to follow (ahem- Georgia and Josh), but maybe the show could do some things a little bit differently this year to keep the series fresh and leave us guessing.

Perhaps Love Island could speak to the guys over at THTH and inject a new burst of energy into the current series!

Love Island is on ITV2 every night at 9pm, except Saturdays. Episodes are also available to stream on the ITV Hub. Too Hot to Handle is available to watch on Netflix. Looking for something else to watch? Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.